When you have a property to sell, how can a real estate agent add substantive value to this process…?  In my view, the process of marketing and selling a home can be broken down into two parts – it starts with (1) the pricing, preparation, and presentation of the property, and then later to (2) vetting prospective purchasers, negotiating the contract, then managing the transaction through the rocky shoals of any buyer-side due diligence, clearing contingencies, and closing the sale.

When readying a new listing for market, pricing is usually but not always the most straightforward part of that process:  we analyze comparable sales data, current competitor listings, and the supply-demand balance in our specific market (which, axiomatically, determines price trends), and using this information establish a list price that should cause the property to draw offers.  There are two basic pricing strategies:  Either price on the lower side of estimated market value in hopes of receiving multiple offers and thereby see the price bid up, or else price on the higher side of estimated market value to give room to negotiate (ie, downwards on price) with a single prospective buyer.  Which pricing strategy we employ really depends on the property:  If the property is expected to be broadly appealing to many prospective purchasers — by virtue of location, price-point, design, and other relevant market considerations — and thus likely to draw multiple offers, then most likely we’d price on the lower side of probable outcomes, with the idea being that we would expect to see the purchase price bid up through the multiple-offer context.  Conversely, if the property seems to be more of a niche offering and thus less likely to draw multiple offers, then we would typically employ a more conventional strategy where we price on the higher side of probable outcomes, thus giving ourselves room to negotiate with a single candidate buyer.

The more nuanced and complex question to consider when readying a home for market is about the physical preparation of the property itself:  Namely, to what extent should we fix and dress up the house to prepare it for market, vs. just selling essentially as-is…?  The answer in any given situation depends both on the client’s inclinations and objectives, and also about the potential cost/value analysis for any sort of pre-marketing repairs and updating we might be considering.  In a strong seller’s market, many homeowners could have a strong inclination to do the least possible work to prepare the property for market — and if that’s a seller’s established preference, then that usually answers the question.  More often, what I find is that, by making targeted repairs and updates to the property to put it into more turn-key condition for our prospective buyers, we’re able to achieve marginal returns that are often in the range of 2-3 times the cost of the investment in the targeted improvements.  To give a very simple (yet common) example, let’s say that a $25K investment to repaint the interior, replace the carpet, and refinish the hardwood flooring could result in a return of +$75K on the sale price vs. selling the house as-is – to most sellers, this would seem like a pretty good return on the investment.  For any given property, I will run various models to provide us with a side-by-side comparison of an as-is sale vs. a range of different repair-and-remodel options.  These models look at both the actual costs associated with the different repair-and-remodel options, and also the estimated return thereupon.  Once the client has selected the model which optimizes the return on investment, we then bring in contractors to start the work.  Sometimes the homeowner prefers to manage the contractors themselves; in other situations — for example, with a typical vacant property — the homeowner would give the keys to me, and then have me supervise the work from start to finish.  I am extremely demanding of my contractors – they know my exacting standards, and will work sedulously to meet them.  In turn, from the contractor’s perspective, if they provide excellent services at reasonable prices for my clients, they know this is the best way to earn additional business in the future.  This network of relationships creates an opportunity for a genuine positive-sum exchange, and one which contributes a substantial value-addition for my seller-clients.

Once any pre-marketing repairs and remodeling have been completed, then we’re on our way to the final step of readying the property for market, which is presentation.  Presentation is what most people will think of when think of “real estate marketing” in the conventional sense.  For homes that are already furnished, I will provide staging services as an included service — I have an extensive background in interior design, and am a professionally-accredited stager.  For homes that are vacant, I will often recommend to the homeowner to have the property staged by an actual staging company –ie, a firm that has staging furniture available for rent.  In this latter situation, I will create the staging plan, and the staging company will implement it.  Upon completion of staging and final cleaning, we’ll be ready to bring in the professional photographer, whom I will meet personally and provide specific guidance of the shoot.

For the marketing materials themselves, I believe every home has a story to tell, and a big part of my job is to help tell that story to our prospective buyers.  As a university-trained essayist, I’ll readily admit that one of my favorite work activities is in the writing of ad copy, and — more broadly — in the creation of all of our print and electronic marketing materials.  I would be glad to share examples of my work when we meet in person, provide you with additional proprietary information about my marketing program and services, and discuss how these would be custom-tailored in the marketing and sale of your home.

Once we receive an offer, I will vet the prospective purchaser’s financials and evaluate their commitment to the property, structure and negotiate the contract itself, oversee any sort of buyer-side due diligence such as inspection, title review, HOA examination, and bank appraisal, personally managing the entire process all the way to closing.  Throughout this process, I will stay in consistent communication with you, providing you with timely updates so that you’ll always know exactly what’s going on and what to expect from the time your property hits the market until you see the sale proceeds hit your bank account.

In a typical year, I’ll do about 25-buyer-side transactions, and about 15 seller-side transactions, meaning that, at any given time, I will usually have not more than about 2-3 active listings.  With property marketing, I believe that every detail matters — and that’s why I want to manage all the particulars myself rather than farming them out to an army of assistants.  While in theory I could choose to run a larger operation, I prefer instead to run a relatively small shop.  My intention and rationale in doing so is to keep my business at a manageable scale so that I can maintain a consistently hands-on approach, lavishing time and attention on each of my client’s projects.  My emphasis is on quality over quantity, and on providing an exceptional client service experience rather than chasing “sales targets” and meaningless corporate awards.  In short, it’s not about making me #1; it’s about making you #1.

To learn more about how I add value for my seller-clients, please check out my testimonials page.